New web service Protocol.by helps you generate email signatures that link to your account at the service, and that contain the information your email recipients need to best contact you, and the order in which they should try.

Email isn't the best way to contact everyone, and we've discussed how you can use email to teach others how to work with you, but sometimes email is the best tool for the task at hand. If you need to email a colleague, but you also want them to know how best to reach you, Protocol.by lets you create signatures for work and home that show visitors the best way to get a hold of you.

An overflowing inbox is the enemy of productivity. You'll never get through it, and people who …
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Create your account at Protocol.by by linking your Google account (Google Apps are supported, and this is only used for authentication, it's not tied to your Google-hosted email,) and fill in your name and basic contact information. From there, you can add different contact methods, like Google Talk, AIM, voicemail, email, Twitter, SMS, and more. Drag and drop them into the order you'd ideally like someone to try and reach you, and then add your details for each service.

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Then copy the whole signature-complete with your custom Protocol.by link-into your email client. You'll need to let people know that if they can't get a hold of you, they should look at the Protocol.by link to find out how to reach you, and your email recipients have to be attentive enough to look and not just click reply for the service to work. What do you think, would people in your organization look at and respect the contact methods you provide with a service like this? Would you rather just list those ways to contact you right in your email? Share your thoughts in the comments.